2nd Eastern Provincial Council

2nd Eastern Provincial Council
1st Eastern Provincial Council
Legislative body Eastern Provincial Council
Jurisdiction Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
Meeting place Provincial Council Assembly Hall, Assembly Secretariat, Trincomalee
Term 1 October 2012 (2012-10-01)
Website ep.gov.lk
Members 37
Chairman Ariyawathi Galappaththy, UPFA (2012-)
Deputy Chairman M. S. Subair, UPFA (2012-)
Chief Minister M. N. Abdul Majeed, UPFA (2012-)
Party control United People's Freedom Alliance

The 2nd Eastern Provincial Council is the current Eastern Provincial Council, with the membership determined by the results of the 2012 provincial council election held on 8 September 2012. The council met for the first time on 1 October 2012. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka the maximum term of a provincial council is 5 years from the date of its first meeting.

Election

The 2nd Eastern Provincial Council election was held on 8 September 2012. The incumbent United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) lost overall control of the council after winning only 14 of the 37 seats. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which had boycotted the previous election, became the second largest group after winning 11 seats. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and United National Party won 7 and 4 seats respectively. The National Freedom Front won the remaining seat.

Results

Alliance Votes % Seats
  United People's Freedom Alliance 200,044 31.58% 14
  Tamil National Alliance 193,827 30.59% 11
  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 132,917 20.98% 7
  United National Party 74,901 11.82% 4
National Freedom Front 9,522 1.50% 1
Others 22,323 3.52% 0
Total 633,534 100.00% 37

The new provincial council met for the first time on 1 October 2012.[1] Ariyawathi Galappaththy (UPFA-SLFP) and M. S. Subair (UPFA-ACMC) were elected Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively.[2]

Government/Board of Ministers

The UPFA was able to form an administration with the support of the SLMC.[3] Under the agreement between the UPFA and SLMC a UPFA nominee would serve as Chief Minister for two and half years after a which a SLMC nominee would become Chief Minister.[4][5] M. N. Abdul Majeed of the UPFA was appointed Chief Minister by Governor Mohan Wijewickrama.[6] Majeed was sworn in on 18 September 2012 in Colombo in front of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.[7] The four government ministers appointed by the Governor with effect from 24 September 2012 were: Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamed Mansoor (SLMC); Meera Sahibu Udumalebbe (UPFA-NC); Dissanayaka Wimalaweera (UPFA-SLFP); and Ahamed Nazeer Zainulabdeen (SLMC).[8] As a result the Sri Lankan Tamils had no representation in the Board of Ministers (the government) despite being the largest ethnic group in the province.[9][10]

Changes in party/alliance affiliations

A few days after the election there were reports that some TNA councillors were being threatened and coerced into joining the UPFA.[11][12] It was reported that members of the military intelligence were involved in the threats.[13] G. Krishnapillai, M. Nadarajah, Kumaraswamy Nageswaran, N. Indirakumar and Murugesu Rajeswaran were offered land, money, houses, vehicles and government construction contracts, and threatened with relatives being arrested.[14] None of the TNA councillors gave into the threats and the TNA lodged a complaint with the Election Commissioner.[15]

Members

Name
Electoral
District

Preference
Votes

Member
From
Member
To
Elected
Party

Elected
Alliance

Current
Party

Current
Alliance

Notes
Ameer, Ali BAT 21,271 1 October 2012 ACMC UPFA ACMC UPFA
Chandradasa, A. P. G. AMP 20,459 1 October 2012 UNP UNP
Chandrakanthan, S. BAT 22,338 1 October 2012 TMVP UPFA TMVP UPFA
Fernando, A. W. B. N. M. AMP 14,887 1 October 2012 UNP UNP
Galappaththy, Ariyawathi W. G. M. TRI 14,224 1 October 2012 SLFP UPFA SLFP UPFA Chairman (12-).
Gamage, Daya AMP 41,064 1 October 2012 UNP UNP
Indirakumar, N. BAT 17,304 1 October 2012 TELO TNA TELO TNA
Jameel, A. Ahamed Mohamed AMP 22,357 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC UPFA
Janarthanan, Jegatheesan TRI 8,949 1 October 2012 ITAK TNA ITAK TNA
Jayasena, Thennakoon Mudiyanselage BON 1 October 2012 UPFA UPFA
Kaleiarasan, Thawaraja AMP 12,122 1 October 2012 TNA TNA
Karunakaran, G. BAT 16,536 1 October 2012 TELO TNA TELO TNA
Krishnapillai, G. BAT 20,200 1 October 2012 TULF TNA TULF TNA
Kumara, K. P. P. P. TRI 12,393 1 October 2012 UPFA UPFA
Lebbe, A. Ameer Mahumud AMP 19,671 1 October 2012 NC UPFA NC UPFA
Maharoof, Imran TRI 10,048 1 October 2012 UNP UNP
Majeed, M. N. Abdul TRI 11,726 1 October 2012 SLFP UPFA SLFP UPFA Chief Minister (12-). Minister of Finance and Planning, Law and Order, Local Government, Regional Administration, Man Power, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rural Development and Environment (12-).
Mansoor, I. M. M. AMP 21,759 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC UPFA Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, Social Welfare, Probation and Childcare Services, Women's Affairs, Youth Affairs, Sports, Information Technology Education, Co-operative Development, Food Supply and Distribution (12-).
Mohamed, A. R. TRI 10,904 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC UPFA
Moulavi, S. L. M. H. TRI 10,732 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC UPFA
Nadarajah, M. BAT 16,681 1 October 2012 ITAK TNA ITAK TNA
Nageswaran, Kumaraswamy TRI 10,911 1 October 2012 ITAK TNA ITAK TNA
Navarathnaraja, Thuraiyappa BON 1 October 2012 SLFP UPFA SLFP UPFA
Nazeer, Ahamed Lebbe Mohamed AMP 18,327 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC UPFA
Rajeswaran, Murugesu AMP 10,812 1 October 2012 TNA TNA
Samsudeen, Ariff AMP 19,680 1 October 2012 NC UPFA NC UPFA
Shibly, Abdul Farook Mohamed BAT 20,407 1 October 2012 ACMC UPFA ACMC UPFA
Subair, Muhamed Sharief BAT 17,903 1 October 2012 ACMC UPFA ACMC UPFA Deputy Chairman (12-).
Thandayuthapani, S. TRI 20,854 1 October 2012 ITAK TNA ITAK TNA Leader of the Opposition (12-).
Thavam, Aadam Lebbe AMP 32,330 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC UPFA
Thurairajasingam, K. BAT 27,717 1 October 2012 ITAK TNA ITAK TNA
Thurairatnam, R. BAT 29,141 1 October 2012 EPRLF TNA EPRLF TNA
Udumalebbe, Meera Sahibu AMP 24,033 1 October 2012 NC UPFA NC UPFA Minister of Road Development, Irrigation, Housing and Construction, Rural Electrification and Water Supply (12-).
Weerasingha, D. AMP 20,922 1 October 2012 UPFA UPFA
Wijesekara, N. G. W. M. J. TRI 7,303 1 October 2012 NFF NFF UPFA
Wimalaweera, Dissanayaka AMP 31,815 1 October 2012 SLFP UPFA SLFP UPFA Minister of Education, Cultural Affairs, Lands and Land Development and Transport (12-).
Zainulabdeen, Ahamed Nazeer BAT 11,401 1 October 2012 SLMC SLMC Minister of Agriculture, Animal Production and Development, Rural Industries Development, Fisheries and Tourism (12-).

References

  1. "PART IV (A) - PROVINCIAL COUNCILS Proclamations & c., by the Governors EASTERN PROVINCE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL Notice" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1777/24. 26 September 2012.
  2. "Inaugural Meeting of Newly Elected Council". Eastern Provincial Council.
  3. Ferdinando, Shamindra (18 September 2012). "President bags East with Hakeem’s help". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  4. Bandara, Kelum (20 September 2012). "PC polls: SLMC to share Chief Minister Post in East". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  5. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (22 September 2012). "NAJEEB ABDUL MAJEED MAKES HISTORY AS THE FIRST MUSLIM CM OF SRI LANKA". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  6. "PART IV (A) - PROVINCIAL COUNCILS Proclamations & c., by the Governors APPOINTMENT OF EASTERN PROVINCE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1777/10. 24 September 2012.
  7. "Majeed sworn in as Eastern CM". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 18 September 2012.
  8. "PART IV (A) - PROVINCIAL COUNCILS Proclamations & c., by the Governors EASTERN PROVINCE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL Appointments made by the Governor of the Eastern Province" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1777/36. 28 September 2012.
  9. "Colombo appoints Sinhala Chief Secretary, sidelines Tamils in EPC". TamilNet. 25 September 2012.
  10. Balachandran, P. K. (26 September 2012). "No Tamil minister in Eastern Province". The New Indian Express.
  11. "UPFA operatives threaten TNA councilors to join UPFA in East". TamilNet. 13 September 2012.
  12. "UPFA attempting to buy TNA members in East". Ceylon Today. 13 September 2012.
  13. Noble, Kath (18 September 2012). "Next stop, Jaffna". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  14. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (14 September 2012). "Military Intelligence Operatives ‘Pressure’ TNA Eastern Councillors Into Supporting UPFA Administration". dbsjeyaraj.com.
  15. Bandara, Kelum (13 September 2012). "Post-election Tug of war....". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
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